should i get a 360 or a PS3: Informative Thread

Lots of people are faced with the challenging question of wich console should i buy to go with my wii, an xbox360 or a PS3?

While its mostly a personel choice, id like to put all the info into one thread to help with your decision.

Xbox 360:
We all know its got its problems. but we all know its got a great list of games. its pretty much met its full potential already and will ride out the rest of its lifespan on what its got.

the DVD player is below average. some DVDs just look like plain crap while others look almost normal. of course for the low, low cost of $179.99 you can get an HD DVD add on. add that to the price of a 360 and its pretty steep, but well worth it if you want your xbox to function as your primary movie player in your home theater set up.

While were on the subject of the DVD player i want to point out another flaw of the Xbox 360: the lack of a mechanism to secure the disc while the xbox is playing it. This, in turn, scratches the disc beyond repair if the console is moved. It's not covered in the warrenty but Microsoft will replace any game published by Microsoft for a Fee of $20.00

Xbox Live.. its really good, but you pay for it. i guess you get what you pay for. For $50.00 a year you get a great online service that can track your stats/rep/etc. Nearly all of Xbox 360's games use live in some way wether its multiplayer or Leaderboards. The download service is good too, free demos and game videos, downloadable movies (rentals), T.V. shows, gamer pictures and themes.

Games: Xbox has the best game library of the three next gen consoles. With tons of great exclusives its the clear winner in this category. Heres some exclusives that are either already out or soon to come:

Playstation3:
Clear winner as far as hardware and raw power goes. Sleek exterior design, something the Xbox, in many peoples opinions, failed to achieve with its matte white boxy design. Very rarely has a PS3 broken down or needed repairs of some sort. In fact, i cant think of ever reading about a situation in wich this has happened. (lets be real though, im sure it has happened before)

Blu-ray: While its uncertain wich format (Blu-ray/HD DVD) will win, things are certainly leaning towards Blu-ray. There's just so much space on a Blu-ray disc it opens up endless doors of opportunity for game developers to make great, long games packed with exclusive content. Most Blu-ray players range in price from $500.00-$1,000.00 and beyond. For $400.00 you can buy a PS3 wich is obviously so much more than a blu-ray player.

PSN: The online service available for the PS3 is absolutely 100% free of charge. You can download games, play multiplayer games, surf the net (something the Xbox isnt capable of), and download game demos. In the future movies will be available for download and the release of HOME wich looks simply amazing, is just around the corner. Sony has announced that you will be able to access your PS3 from your PSP and even play games from your PS3 on your PSP from anywhere int he world.

Basically it comes down to this: are you patient or not? If not, then the 360 is for you. It wont have the life span of the PS3 but Wii60 is where its at right now. In the future, say 2 years down the road PS3 owners are going to be content while 360 owners are going to start to realize they will need a new console within the next year or 2. I dont have the dates, but ive seen an article saying the PS3 will have a shelf life 4 years longer than the 360 does. Lots have been calling the 360 "xbox 1.5".

Personal Opinion:
I recently bought an xbox 360 and let me tell you, i love the thing, but id rather own a PS3. Sure, i play Halo 3 a lot, and bioshock is cool and all but when it comes down to it, a lot of the good games are on both consoles, and pretty soon the PS3's raw power is going to shine when developers start developing for the PS3's full potential instead of one version for both consoles. This is where Blu-ray discs come into play as well as the PS3's graphical capabilities. So was my decision to buy a 360 a bad one? who knows.. but i DO know ill be buying a PS3 next year when Killzone 2 comes out.

Hope this was at least semi-informative for those looking to buy a 360/PS3.

EDIT: WIKIPEDIA INFO IS BAD. ill have to replace those links when i find a more reliable source.

Personal Opinion:
I recently bought an xbox 360 and let me tell you, i love the thing, but id rather own a PS3. Sure, i play Halo 3 a lot, and bioshock is cool and all but when it comes down to it, a lot of the good games are on both consoles, and pretty soon the PS3's raw power is going to shine when developers start developing for the PS3's full potential instead of one version for both consoles. This is where Blu-ray discs come into play as well as the PS3's graphical capabilities. So was my decision to buy a 360 a bad one? who knows.. but i DO know ill be buying a PS3 next year when Killzone 2 comes out.

That's where the problem is for the PS3, aside from it's still expensive price tag. The PS3's architecture is a headache to develop for, for alot of Third Party developers.. hence why most of them don't want to make games for it, so the whole 'excellent' lineup of PS3 games to come, is hanging on the fence right now.

That also brings into question on one of Kaz's statements, claiming that we won't see the PS3's true potential until maybe 6-7 years from now (which is not good for gamers, who are wanting it's true potential now), and keep in mind... Developers are only human, and they only know so much about coding and developing, that it'll take some time before they truly get the hang of the PS3, and start pulling out some mind-blowing games.

Though i won't exclude the fact that the PS3 does have some very impressive games already in it's library (R&C, Warhawk, HS, etc.), as well as future releases (FF13, MGS4, Haze, etc.). Not to mention it's the cheapest Blu-ray player on the market, and a pretty damn good one too.

Both the PS3 & Xbox 360 still have yet to show their true potential of their power (and no game has shown that yet, not even Gears, Mass Effect, or Blue Dragon). Though some may disagree, when looking at Blue Dragon since it suffers from some terrible frame-rate issues, but that is only due to the engine used, and the poor coding from the developer (Artoons), since Lost Odyssey has twice as many pixels used on screen and has "0" frame-rate lag.

The PS3 is a beautiful console, but the waiting line for it's awesome games is just too long, as opposed to the Xbox 360 which is shelling out twice as many (despite it's 1 year headstart). Though i don't like to quote the silly fanboys, some of them are right when they say "360 is now, PS3 is the future".

Gikoku ハラカミ----------------------------------------------------Don't think. Feel...
It's like a finger pointing to the moon.
Don't concentrate on the finger or you'll miss all that heavenly glory.
~Bruce Lee, Wing Chun.

ok geeze guys, ill add bioshock/gears. and fear isnt on the ps3 is it? i know its on PC but i guess Wikipedia let me down! lol

this isnt meant to be a console debate thread, lets not start that.

keep in mind im only human and my "article" isnt perfect. i pulled most of that stuff off the top of my head with the exception of the exlusive games. i used wiki for that obviously.

True, but isn't it alright for us to also add information/opinions that we have on both of the consoles and their games? I mean, after all this is an "information" thread for PS3 & 360, and to help those make a decision between the two.

Your article may not perfect, but it would be better if others can contribute to the information on the consoles and games, be it a debate on whether or not either console is truly worth the person's $300+.

I'm pretty sure that can be allowed, without it eventually turning into a console/game flamewar.

Gikoku ハラカミ----------------------------------------------------Don't think. Feel...
It's like a finger pointing to the moon.
Don't concentrate on the finger or you'll miss all that heavenly glory.
~Bruce Lee, Wing Chun.

Gikoku ハラカミ----------------------------------------------------Don't think. Feel...
It's like a finger pointing to the moon.
Don't concentrate on the finger or you'll miss all that heavenly glory.
~Bruce Lee, Wing Chun.